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Ybirawen
Ybirawen is a region and former empire in southern Phalanor. Ethnicity Ybirish ethnicity is widely varied, with Gabrycan, Aelrystian, Aylish and Pyrene being the most common types of ethnic identities. Most of the people in the southeast lands are Andirs as well, having been leftover from the old Andiric empire. Aelrystian and Aylish Ethnicity Aelrystian ethnicity is very alike to that of Ayles, with both of kinds having relatively dark hair and light eye colours. The main difference, however, is that Aelrystians are usually somewhat taller than Ayles. This has resulted in the term "Aylish" to be considered an insult in the region of Aelryst. Gabrycan Ethnicity Gabrycan ethnicity is somewhat similar to that of the Pyrenes, though Gabrycans usually possess darker hair with somewhat large noses that have bridges that protrude outwards too much. Gabrycan ethnicity is the least common in the empire, and years of intermixing with other ethnicities has depleted the race of Gabrycans. History The Empire is a relatively new state, with not much origins before roughly 563 AP. Its name is based on the tribe of the Ybirs, who came from the east to flee from the onslaught of the nearby tribe of the Esmurians. The Ybirs split up and spread out into the modern-day borders of Ybirawen and its nearby countries. After many a century, though, the Ybirs were pushed back by many invading tribes, including the southern Cvaldaks and the Pyrenes. The leftover Ybirs established rich city-states in the eastern part of Gabrycg, wherein they continued to flourish until some particularly warmongering tribes from the west decided to conquer them along with most of Gabrycg. Although they were still Ybirs, they are considered to be the foundation of the modern-day Gabrycan culture and ethnicity. Conflicts with the Southern CvaldaksCategory:EmpireCategory:Nation The Southern Cvaldaks were possibly the first Cvaldaks to migrate west. It is unknown how they came so early to the west, but some speculate that they abused Prumite shipping routes and smuggled themselves to the fertile west. The Cvaldaks were very cruel at first, committing gendercide on anyone in their region, killing the men and raping the women. With this tactic, their numbers grew and grew for decades. This did not escape Ybirish attention, however. The Ybirs, scared, quickly built many walls along their borders with the marauding South Cvaldak tribes. This exhausted the Ybirish economy, making a huge economic depression happen that the Ybirs did not expect. While the Ybirs bickered constantly and split apart for brief time periods, the Cvaldaks only laughed at the walls they constructed. With big battering rams, they destroyed many of the gates and much of the walls' length were destroyed, simply due to poor construction. The South Cvaldaks broke through and slaughtered whole villages of Ybirs, even including the rich ruler of a city-state. This caused outrage, but no one really did anything about it. The Ybirs were weakened, and the westerners resorted to a nomadic life, to escape the Cvaldaks' fury. Retaliation After a long decade being slowly split from the east, the western Ybirs developed their own, completely different culture. They were nomadic, and were ruled by warrior-kings rather than wealthy, trade-kings. A Ybiric chief, Wpran, was an especially cruel king. He conquered much of the city-states of the East Ybirs, and limited them to a very small area. On 148 A.P., he declared himself King of all the Ybirs. He united the tribes of the west, and took a huge army to the Cvaldaks. Although the Cvaldaks managed to strategize well, winning several battles and sieges, this did not last for long. The 10-year-war eventually turned in favour to the Ybirs, who decisively won a few battles against the Cvaldaks. Although King Wpran won, it was almost a Pyrrhic victory, with his treasury completely emptying up several times. Wpran was in debt to the city-states of the coast. He decided to conquer them all, but his campaign failed and put his kingdom in an economic crisis once again. While Wpran went on a pilgrimage to his Gods after his failed campaign, him and his very small company were ambushed. A band of Cvaldak warriors ambushed him and ultimately slaughtered his whole party, which put Wpran's Kingdom in deep chaos. A five-decade period of infighting followed, in what is called 'the great disappointment'. A Foreign King No chieftain could actually win a war against another after Wpran's Kingdom fell. If they even did, then revolts would start and the whole process would start again. The Eastern Ybiric city-states were happy, loaning out lots of money and making a lot from this. The Aelrystians in the south however, were not happy at all. They were a loose confederation of tribes, who were very unsatisfied with the wealth of the northern city-states. They wanted it all for themselves, and soon, at least some of them would get what they wanted. A prominent horselord in the north raised up a large army, composed of almost all cavalrymen. In the deep of the night, he marched them upwards; to the Cvaldak lands. This was completely unexpected, as the Aelrystians and Cvaldaks were on quite friendly terms. This horselord, now known as Thondar the Great, was immediately declared a traitor to Aelryst. He did not care, however; he was the richest, the most powerful, and the most prestigious of all the Aelrystians. The South Cvaldaks were easily defeated, and forced to migrate upwards toward the coast. The local folk enslaved by the Cvaldaks cheered for the Aelrystian cavalry, but their cheers hushed after they won: for Thondar learned from his enemies, and also committed mass gendercide and rape. He was nicknamed by the South Cvaldaks as 'the Great Doppelganger', due to his common use of Cvaldak tactics. Thondar was not satisfied yet, however. Although he had independence, and large amounts of land, he chose to gamble. He raised up a large army, taking away every single levy and garrison in his realm. Within weeks, Thondar's realm shrank greatly, but his army expanded. After a short religious ceremony, his cavalrymen galloped west and burnt every village they found. Thondar killed the Eastern Ybirish chiefs himself, and conquered every bit of land they had. But still, he was not satisfied. With a large, organised, and ready army, he chose to send exactly three pigeons to every city-state on the Ybirish coast: one for the ruler, one for his commanders, and one for his advisers. The letters to the commanders and advisers of the ruler said one simple thing -- Death or allegiance. Yet, this message was still scary enough. Many advisers seceded to Thondar's cause and became spies, while the commanders of the Ybirish military slacked and ensured low defenses. Everything went to plan: Thondar's army now marched to the east, and with almost no resistance, he conquered all of the city-states. Anyone who did not comply with Thondar was quickly executed, and to ensure no rebellion, Thondar introduced harsh laws (such as cutting off someone's arms and revoking their lands if they treated their subjects unjustly). This earned him favour among the common folk, and the rest of his reign was quite comfortable. Kingdom of Gabrycg After establishing himself firmly in the Ybirish lands, Thondar abandoned his holdings in the southeast and declared the Kingdom of Gabrycg (literally north-land in Aelrystian). He repeatedly denied changing the name of the Kingdom to the common, Ybirish one, and introduced a strict policy of using the Aelrystian language. Due to this, the Ybirs' language shifted greatly, with more than a third of the language's words being loanwords from Aelrystian. The Ybirs no longer knew themselves as Ybirs, but as Gabrycans. Thondar's reign did not last for long. After reigning for only eight years, Thondar collapsed to plague, according to his brother. To others, though, it seemed like an assassination, for Thondar's brother Vniran had always been plotting to take over the Kingdom. In a rage, Thondar's son Marcechni killed Vniran after accusing him of killing his father. After this, the throne went to Aelran, who stabilized the kingdom greatly, even though he was seen as a disappointment to some. He gave up many of the lands in the west voluntarily, and focused on improving the great castles of the coast. Under his reign, the old Ybirish language was driven extint. Instead, a creole derived from some old Ybirish words and dialects of the Aelrystian language emerged. This evolved and became the modern Gabrycan language. Origins of the Empire in Aelran's Reign King Aelran, although having a relatively quiet life during the earlier part of his reign, found himself embroiled in many conflicts after ~380 A.P. The start of it all was his blinding. In the middle of the night, Aelran was kidnapped and tortured for many days by one of his cousins, Marcechni. Marcechni was ambitious, and was bitter over Aelran inheriting the Kingdom. Marcechni gathered an army and dragged his cousin with him, eventually just blinding him and dumping him outside a farm. Now blinded, weak, and malnourished, no one possibly expected Aelran to survive. However, a local took him in and nursed him back to better health. Although he was blind, Aelran did not lose any of his skills. At least not permanently: he could barely speak for the first week he was recovering, and the woman that kept him in her hovel was the only thing between him and death. On the second week, however, he finally began talking, as well as walking to a certain extent. He told the woman to gather up a crowd of the local workers, yet she did not listen. The woman knew very well who Aelran was, and couldn't just let him leave with an army with nothing to spare for her. Instead, she pressured him into striking a deal with her. Aelran resisted at first, for several weeks at that. Although stubborn at first, he could not afford to lose any more time, as his uncle's armies would only get closer and closer to the capital of Danhone. Finally, Aelran saw the shrewdness in the woman, and agreed to provide her with at least something in return for her helping him. Aelran delivered a speech to the workers, guards, and farmers of the town, inspiring them to fight for him instead of Marcechni. Although Aelran now had a tiny force, he couldn't even manage it that well. Hlanya, the peasant woman who assisted Aelran, took over the job of management and was considered by Aelran to be a co-ruler. Aelran and Hlanya grew close and eventually married, and made for excellent rulers together. Hlanya was more powerful than just a normal queen, since her husband was blind and he relied on her at times. Going from village to village, Aelran gathered a larger force of troops gradually. It was not enough, though, for mere peasants couldn't tackle the well-equipped army of Marcechni. Eventually, Aelran resorted to establishing his rule over the South Cvaldak states through some sort of trickery. No one is sure how he did this, though he did eventually manage to raise a sufficient force after doing it. Aelran then met his cousin's army on the field. He won a sufficient victory, and so restabilized Gabrycg under his rule. King Aelran, nicknamed 'the Blind', then expanded his realm further to a certain degree, by winning some sieges and battles against the Aelrystian tribes.